Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6,8-9; Luke 3:1-6
Fr. Kevin Boucher
The prophet Baruch was speaking to a people who were in exile. The people of Israel had been forced from their homeland by the Babylonians. But first they had seen the temple and their great city of Jerusalem destroyed. Life as they knew it had ended. Their lives would never be the same again. And so Baruch gives them hope with the promise that God will make of them a people upon whom the whole world will look in awe. The world will see the glory of God in their midst as he lifts them up as on thrones. In the midst of their exile Baruch assures them with the promise that their God has not abandoned them. God would be with them, even in their exile.
That is the message of Advent for us who live in the 21st century of Christianity. For in a sense, we people who believe are displaced from our true home, which is heaven. All of us are strangers in a world that is becoming exceedingly un-Christian.
The evening news brings into our homes the horrors of war, murder, kidnapping and abuse. Television glamorizes the mortal sins of people who lie, cheat, and steal their way from one episode to the next. Inappropriate lifestyles and decisions are celebrated on so-called “reality shows.” And it seems the only messages no longer protected by the Freedom of Speech are the Christian messages of truth, values, and morality. To proclaim what is right and what is wrong seems to always be infringing on someone else’s rights.
We are strangers in a world that is becoming more unjust and lacking in mercy. Not all that long ago the majority of North Dakotans were opposed to the death penalty. Today, when a violent crime is committed, it seems as though an increasing number of people in our state is crying out for the death penalty. Are these just a few individuals who have captured the medias attention, or have we become so callous by the violence broadcast on the media each and every day that we are losing our sense of God’s justice? We must never forget that no one has the right to take another human life except God; even if that person has violated someone else’s life.
Why must we adopt God’s attitudes of justice and mercy? Because that is what we have learned from the teachings of Jesus. The gospels clearly indicate Jesus’ teaching on the sanctity of life. He teaches that while under the old law it was and eye for an eye, under the new law it is turn the other cheek. He said we must love our enemies and pray for those who hurt us. A woman caught in adultery was saved from being stoned to death for her crime. Could you imagine if that was the punishment today for people who have sex outside of marriage? Our arms would be pretty tired from all the rock throwing we would have to do. Even as Jesus is being nailed to the cross his prayer for his executioners was “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Why else should we be concerned about God’s justice? Because we owe God our gratitude for everything we have comes from God. We best express our gratitude by obedience. God has given us our faith and our freedom. Not all people have these things. God has given us the ability and opportunity to have shelter, clothing and food, while thousands go hungry and homeless, even in America, every single day. God has given us the Life-giving Word of the Scriptures and the spiritual nourishment of the Eucharist. God has also given us the support of community, the gathering of believers who pray, serve and journey with us. By giving us community God assures us that we will never be alone, even on our Christian journey. We have others, and we need others, to help us walk in the ways of truth. It is a whole lot easier to stand up against injustice as a people united in truth, than to be a lone voice crying out in the wilderness.
This brings us to one more thing that God has given to us. For incentive and motivation, we have been given the promise of mercy, peace, justice and glory. Therefore God gives us a challenge for our life here on earth. On the way to heaven, we who await the Just One are charged with doing justice until he comes. This means that we must be like John the Baptist crying out against injustices in our community, in our society, and in our world. This is what John meant when he quoted Isaiah: “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.” Anything which hinders another person from getting to God must be eliminated. This means poverty; this means oppression; this means prejudice; this means violence and war.
The cry for justice must begin first in our own hearts. We must level out the valleys and hills we have created within our souls as a result of our attitudes of prejudice, or anger, or bitterness, or vengefulness. We must come out of the valleys we have formed by our sin, and our worry, and our anxiety, and depressions. We must level the mountains we have formed to protect our hearts from the hurts that others have done to us, which only prevent us from allowing others to love us.
When we dare to go to these places, when we work to level the mountains and valleys, we may be frightened, we may be nervous, we may feel as though life as we have known it has ended. This is why have the assurance that Baruch, and John, and Jesus give to us. The assurance is this. God is with us. We are not alone. And God, in his good time, will make all things new.
In this way, we anticipate the eternal kingdom, and we are assured of God’s continuing involvement in our lives, in human history, in our world.
